10,000 hospitality workers may lose jobs

TEN thousand workers in the hospitality business in Ikotun Egbe, a suburb of Lagos State, may lose their jobs soon.

Their employers, the Pilgrims Hostels Operators Association of Nigeria (PHOAN), blamed the development on the dwindling fortunes of its members.

The group noted that its woes began shortly after a two-storey guest house owned by Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) collapsed last year.

The chairman of the association, Prince Adekanbi Adedayo John, said: “Because of the lull in our business, we may have to lay off a large number of our workers, if the situation persists.

“About 10, 000 workers may be affected by this decision. We are not happy about this because we know that it would obviously have ripple effects on the workers and their families.

“PHOAN is the biggest employer of labour in this area for over a decade. Our business thrived all these years because of SCOAN’s popularity, which attracted visitors from all over the world to the area.

“The church’s activities before the incident, served as the economic livewire on which PHOAN and other smaller businesses relied on.“

A member of the group, Ozumba Sunny, said: “The chances of turning Nigeria into a religious tourist haven have been put on the line by the church’s predicament and this has brought hardship to the people, who earn a living as food vendors, drivers, mechanics etc.”

The Chairman, Board of Trustees (BoT), Kafaru Aminu, said: “Many of us have been struggling to feed our families and pay school fees in the last one year, yet we have huge bank loans hanging on our necks. We are on the verge of losing our investments and the only way this can be averted is if the fortunes of the church improve.”